Ye Olde Law and Order

There's this guy by the name of Keith Decandido. Pretty cool all around guy, actually. A Yankees fan, but he's a New Yorker, so I can forgive that. He's also an author, and a really good one. My first encounter to him was his Star Trek novels. He's written some truly excellent ones, my personal favorites being the IKS Gorkon series, the stories of a Klingon ship and crew. Klag l'olam!

After meeting him at the Collingswood Book Festival (really neat, by the way; I'm going again and local friends should to) I bought another book he wrote: Dragon Precinct. It's the first in a really unique series. It's set in bustling port city of Cliff's End, in a realm called Flingaria. It's a fairly typical medieval fantasy setting: elves, dwarves, wizards, lords and kings, that kind of thing. What makes the stories unique, though, is that the protagonists aren't a plucky band of adventures or noble warriors or anything like that; they're cops.

Specifically, the two main characters of the series are the half-elven woman Danthres Tresyllione and former solider Torin ban Wyvald, both Lieutenants in the Cliff's End Castle Guard. There job is investigating the serious crimes that go on in the city. It unfolds just as you would expect a police procedural: finding clues, questioning witness, and tracking down the perp. Of course, the addition of things like magic, vampires, and dragons sometimes makes the job a bit more difficult. Danthres hates magic. There have actually been quite a few entries in the series:

• Dragon Precinct - The first novel in the series tells the story of Gan Brightblade, of of the greatest adventurers and heroes in the world, arriving in Cliff's End with his equally heroic companions. When they start getting murdered, the Castle Guard is on the case.
• Unicorn Precinct - When the youngest daughter of one of Cliff's End richest and most powerful families is murdered on the eve of her wedding, Danthres and Torin have to navigate a web of secrets and lies to find the truth, all the while treading a minefield of fragile noble egos. 
• Goblin Precinct - A new drug is hitting the slums of Cliff's End, and more and more people are dieing everyday from overdoes. Unfortunate as it is, it doesn't truly get the attention of the Castle Guard until a wanted elven war criminal turns up dead. The investigation to the origins of the drug turns into a major controversy, and garners the attention of the Brotherhood of Wizards, who have a rare talent for making things worse.
• Gryphon Precinct - Hard to summarize this one much without dropping spoilers (I'd suggest you avoid reading Amazon's summary) but I will say it's my favorite of the series, and is packed with twists, turns, and political intrigue.
• Tales from Dragon Precinct - This short story collection has more stories about Danthres and Torin as well as tales of their colleagues in the Castle Guard, and it's some of the best stuff in the series.Want to see what interrogating furniture looks like? It's in there.
• Mermaid Precinct - Another entry in the series, to be released in the fall. Tells the story of the murder of the infamous Pirate Queen.

 I know, it sounds odd, but trust me, this series is really good stuff. If you're in to either fantasy or crime stories, it's easily worth a look, and if you're like me and enjoy both, WHY HAVEN'T YOU STARTED READING IT YET?!?